Adding -es to words
Do you remember what letters at the end of words we add -es to?
Add -es to words ending in s, ss, sh, ch, x, z to make plurals and third person verbs (he she it)
I have 3 watches (plural).
She/He/It watches TV every morning (third person verb).
bus — buses
gas — gases
address — addresses
business — businesses
press — presses
dress — dresses
loss — losses
floss — flosses
boss — bosses
cross — crosses
trash — trashes
crash — crashes
wash — washes
wish — wishes
dish — dishes
fish — fishes
varnish — varnishes
bench — benches
peach — peaches
watch — watches
batch — batches
pitch — pitches
itch — itches
reach — reaches
teach — teaches
box — boxes
fox — foxes
fix — fixes
mix — mixes
tax — taxes
wax — waxes
waltz — waltzes
quiz — quizzes*
*Notice quizzes also has the 1:1:1 doubling up rule. So we have 1 syllable (quiz) + 1 vowel (i) next to 1 end consonant (z) so double up the z There are two vowels but remember because q is always with u so is qu classed as one consonant sound.
He washes and waxes his car every weekend.
She has three businesses and pays lots of taxes.
He fixes old wooden boxes.
She watches loads of quizzes on TV.
But like all spelling rules there are always exceptions to the rule.
If the -ch ending is pronounced with a "k" sound, you add -s not -es:
stomach - stomachs
epoch - epochs
Now write some sentences like these.
Do this Spelling Test
Press the player above. Write what you hear.
After the test check your spellings carefully - letter by letter, correct the mistakes and do the test again tomorrow.
Practice makes progress makes perfect!
Answers
1. She watches TV every Wednesday.
2. He's a kitchen porter and washes dishes and polishes glasses.
3.This suit matches my shoes.
4. There are some new London buses which are so big they carry hundreds of people.
5. Could you please start putting these things in those boxes?
6. She has quite a few businesses in England and India.
7 He likes potatoes especially chips.
8. She goes shopping every day but at weekends she doesn't, she relaxes.
9. He does his shopping in the evening when it's quiet.
10. She usually finishes work at eight o'clock at night.
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